TEMPLE
OF MARCUS AURELIUS
TEMPLE
OF MARCUS AURELIUS
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Marcus
Aurelius, full name Marcus Aelius Aurelius Antoninus (121-180),
Roman emperor (161-180) and Stoic philosopher.
Marcus Aurelius, whose original name was Marcus Annius Verus, was born in Rome on April 20, 121, the nephew by marriage of Antoninus Pius, later emperor. After the latter succeeded to power, he adopted his nephew and married him to his daughter (145). Marcus Aurelius became emperor in 161, and throughout his reign he was engaged in defensive wars on the northern and eastern frontiers of the empire. His legions succeeded in repelling the invasion of Syria by the Parthians in 166, but Rome was again forced into battle in 167 by the Germanic tribes on the Rhine-Danube frontier. Marcus Aurelius returned to Rome intermittently during the German campaign to make legal and administrative reforms. Although he was particularly concerned with public welfare and sold even his personal possessions to alleviate the effects of famine and plague within the empire, he ruthlessly persecuted the Christians, believing them a threat to the imperial system. In 176 he returned to the northern frontier, hoping to extend the boundaries of the empire northeastward to the Wisla (Vistula) river. He died of the plague in Vindobona (now Vienna) on March 17, 180, before he could begin the invasion. His plan was abandoned by his son and successor, Commodus.
In his domestic
policy Marcus Aurelius was a champion of the poor, for whom he founded
schools, orphanages, and hospitals and alleviated the burden of 
taxes.
He also tried to humanize criminal laws and the treatment of slaves by
their masters.
As a philosopher he is remembered for his Meditations, a compendium of 12 books of moral precepts written in Greek. The work, an important formulation of the philosophy of Stoicism, reveals his belief that the moral life leads to tranquillity, and stresses the virtues of wisdom, justice, fortitude, and moderation. (Microsoft Encarta)
Another source adds:
The
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was perhaps the only true philosopher- king
in the history of the world. He was not an original nor a systematic philosopher,
but in his meditations, a series of notes to himself, he formulated the
Stoic beliefs with a passionate religious conviction.
He shared the basic Stoic belief in the divinity of the cosmos as an intelligent being with a soul, and stressed (perhaps too fatalistically) the harmony of all things and the importance of resigning oneself to whatever happened.
Marcus Aurelius reigned from 161 AD to 180 AD. He seems to have been a good and conscientious ruler who was magnanimous towards his enemies. He banned informers, stamped down hard on corruption, and freed slaves at every opportunity. Although he tolerated the circus, he ordered gladiators to fight with blunted points. Needing extra funds for his wars in Eastern Europe, he refused to raise taxes but instead held a public auction of his own golden tableware and of his wife's silk and gold embroidered dresses.
The Meditations were written day by day, in every situation including war. They often appear to be responses to the stress of supreme power, from the imminent fear of death in battle, to the trials of everyday life.
Marcus' greatest trial was his son Commodus, who succeeded him in a disastrous reign that rivalled Nero's for corruption and cruelty. Commodus was, so it was rumoured, the son of one of the gladiators whom Marcus' wife Faustina took for lovers. According to his biographer, Commodus was "base, shameless, cruel, lecherous, defiled and debauched." While his father sold his own property to serve the empire, the son milked the empire to enrich himself. He frequently took part in the circus as a secutor (sword-man), and considered himself part of the gladiators' corps. He shared the same birthday, and the same interests in brutal sadism, as Caligula. One report of Marcus' death suggests he was poisoned by doctors acting on Commodus' behalf.
With hindsight Marcus' greatest omission was that he did not impose Stoicism as the imperial religion, with as much rigour as Theodosius later imposed Christianity. Had he done so, the history of the world might have turned out very differently. But the fact that he was more tolerant might be regarded as another of his virtues.
The text is from Moses Hadas, Essential Works of Stoicism, Bantam Books, New York 1960.
